Pounds of marijuana captured at airport, deputies say

Authorities say they intercepted men who hid drugs in their checked luggage.

By ELIZABETH JOHNSON

Two men allegedly carrying more than 60 pounds of marijuana were met with a surprise at the Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport: a drug-sniffing dog.

Brett Mattson, 25, of Bradenton, and Shirden Coe, 35, of California, were arrested this weekend on drug trafficking charges.

Among the checked luggage in the plane's storage were two black suitcases and two blue suitcases carrying something other than the clothes and toiletries in their flying companions.

The luggage was stuffed with books, said Dave Bristow, spokesman for the Manatee County Sheriff's Office.

And inside the books? Marijuana worth more than $250,000.

Detectives were alerted on Sept. 15 that a man would be flying from California to the regional airport with narcotics. Bristow would not go into more detail about how that information was obtained.

When the flight arrived Saturday night, Coe and Mattson went with the unsuspecting people from their flight to the baggage claim area.

Unknown to the suspects, deputies intercepted the luggage before sending it on the pick-up carousel.

Dog Noeska sniffed approximately 20 pieces of luggage; The dog responded to four suitcases — two blue and two black, according to an arrest report.

When the luggage was placed on the carousel, Mattson and Coe took the suspicious bags, according to an arrest report. The men were immediately detained.

Coe gave permission for his suitcases to be searched. Mattson refused to speak with detectives without his attorney. Deputies obtained a search warrant for his luggage.

Inside the suitcases detectives found hollowed out books, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Hidden inside the books were 56 individual, vacuum-sealed bags of marijuana, according to the arrest report.

The bags combined for a weight of 63.1 pounds, worth $252,000.

“It was a little surprising,” said Fredrick “Rick” Piccolo, president and chief executive of the airport. “This is the first sizeable incident that I can really recall. There might have been a couple of ounces discovered while going through security, but nothing like this.”

The Manatee County Sheriff's Office worked jointly with the Airport Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Mattson has previously served time for selling marijuana, according to Manatee County court records. Coe has no previous arrests locally.

Both men face a felony charge of trafficking in marijuana. They are being held without bail at the Sarasota County jail.